Xi warns Trump: Mishandling Taiwan will put U.S.-China relationship in ‘great jeopardy’
BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping warned U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday that the U.S. and China “will have clashes and even conflicts” if the long-standing issue of Taiwan’s independence is mishandled.
If that issue is not handled “properly,” Xi said, it could put “the entire relationship in great jeopardy,” Chinese state news outlet Xinhua reported.
Xi’s admonition came as he and Trump held their first round of talks in Beijing, kicking off a high-stakes two-day summit that is expected to cover trade, tariffs and Iran, in addition to the perennial friction over Taiwan.
Xi stressed to Trump that “the Taiwan question” is “the most important issue in China-U.S. relations,” Xinhua reported after the two world leaders held talks at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.
He also reiterated China’s position that Taiwan independence and peace in the Taiwan Strait “are as irreconcilable as fire and water.”
Beijing considers Taiwan, a democratically self-ruled island, part of its territory. The island’s ruling party rejects that claim. The U.S. has long acknowledged China’s view, but maintains strong relationships with Taipei and has kept vague about how it would respond to an attack on Taiwan.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” in an interview with Joe Kernen on Thursday morning that Trump understands the issues surrounding Taiwan and is “very, very resolute in his answers.”
“I’m sure we’ll be hearing more from him in the coming days on that,” Bessent said.
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